Rocket launcher



L. M- HARVEY ROCKET LAUNCHER Jan. 3, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan.27, 1959 INVENTOR.

Leo Tl'L. HarvaH My- RM,

AIIUIPNEYE L. M. HARVEY ROCKET LAUNCHER JamB, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Jan. 27, 1959 L. M. HARVEY ROCKET LAUNCHER Jan. 3, 1961 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 27, 1959 5 QM m Wm w WW wm Q N H a w m N. m mfl w L Q. NW. ,\...J.B J R Q E Q\ rn INVENTOR.

A TTUHNEYS.

5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Lac: TU. Herve X} W 42 4. @MQ diMflz- L M HARVEY ROCKETLAUNCHER Jan. 3, 1961 Filed Jan. 27, 1959 Jan. 3, 1961 L. M. HARVEY2,966,827

ROCKET LAUNCHER Filed Jan. 27, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. LECI T11-Ham/EH 0 11% ATTDRNEYS BYjj. Q Ma ROCKET LAUNCHER Leo M. Harvey, LosAngeles, Calif., assignor to the United States of America as representedby the Secretat-y of the Army Filed Jan. 27,1959, Ser. No. 789,456 6Claims. (Cl. s9- 1.7

This invention'relates to a rocket launcher (and more particularly to arocket launcher in which, the rocket per se, is prepackaged in acontainer, such container forming the breech chamber of a rocketlauncher when =-inserted in longitudinalalignment between the barrel iand -the rearwardly disposed blast tube. 1 The container is thensecurely engaged "by movement of a shuttle bar mechanism and the firingconnections are automatically made by the same action.

- Heretofore, rockets have had to be removed from their containersbefore loading into a launcher with the attendant possibility ofdamaging the same either by accident or through mishandling. Withthepresent invention, much of: this hazard has been-removed by havingthe rocket supplied to the launcher already packaged and loaded byremoving a pair ofcovers' and inserting the *openended container into areceiving-body mechanism and securing it in the rocket launcher byashuttle bar I l arrangement.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a rocketlauncher" having its ammunition encased in a moistureandshocbprooftubular container with removablee nd covers, the containerto form abreech'chamber '1 with the barrel and blast tube of the launcher whenthe end covers are removed and the container is placed in longitudinalalignment between the barrel and blast tube ota launcher.

ilt is "another object of thel invention to. provide a rocket launchercapable of being easily assembled or dis- It is a still further objectof the invention to provide a launcher wherein a rocket can. be quicklyloaded for firingand the firing circuit can be automatically connect-;fed; to the} trigger mechanism by a'minimum of manual operations.

" The specific nature of 'theinvention as well as the objects andadvantages'thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferredembodiment as shown in' the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a-side elevation of the breech end of a rocket'launcherconstructed in accordance with thein- 'vention, illustratingthe receiverbody, the blast tube,

=the barrel and the trigger mechanism;

Figure 2 is a perspective 'view of the launcher illustrated in Figure 1,taken from the reverse side thereof;

Figure 3 is a top view of the launcher; 'Figure 4.is a cross sectiontaken along line 4-4 of Figure 3;

,Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of an enlarged scale, taken alongline 5-5 of Figure 3, illustrating the operating lever mechanism;

"Figure 6 is a cross section, taken along line 6-'-6 of Figure 1,certain parts being omitted for the sake of clarity;

Figure 7 is a sectional view, taken along line 7--7 of Figure5,"illustrating' the operating-lever in plan;

Figure 8 is a 'sectional view, taken along line 88 Df Bigo -e6,illustrating one ofthe extractors;

2,966,327 Patented Jan. 3, 1961 "Figure 9, is anexploded perspectiveview of the .component'. members of} the rocket launcher, the operatingleverv mechanismfhaving been removed; v

Figure is an exploded perspective view of the-Jeceiving body. and theshuttle bar, looking from the bottom;

. the rocket launcher in its entirety, and comprises, as best seeninFigure 9 (which showsthe main elements ,ofthe launcher with somemechanisms omitted for the sake of clarity), a, receiver body, indicatedgenerally by 2, a

shuttlev bar indicated generally by 3, a barrel portion 4,

. and a rocket container indicated generally by5. A- trigger mechanism 6is provided on the barrel 4.

The receiver body 2 is secured at one of its ends to the barrel 4 andcomprises a cylindrical open-end trough 7 which is canted to a positionconvenient for the operator in loading the launcher. As is best seen inFigure 6,

the open-endtrough is depressed longitudinally along the. bottom'thereof to form a channel 8. for apurpose to, belater described.Thelongitudinal edges 9 and 10 ofthechannel's are rolled outwardly toenhance loading {thereinand eliminate sharp edges.

A housing 11- is. attachedto the under, side .of the receiver body 2 .atits forward endfor supporting operating mechanisms to be i laterdescribed.

The shuttle bar 3 is comprised of an elongated channel bar 12 having aconcave upper surface 13 to fit the icontour ,of rocket container 5. Asbest viewed from Figures 10, 12, and. 13, it-=will be seen .that channelplates 14 .and 15 aresecured to the under surface of bar 12 at eitherend thereof. The plates are flanged outwardly as at 16 j for a bearingsurface. to be described hereinafter. A

blast tube 17 is aflixed at one .end of the bar-.12.

In assembled relationgthejshuttle. bar 3 is slidably .rnounted in thereceiving. body 2 and. on the upper sur- 7 face of channel 8. As bestseen in Figure 14, the-channel 8 is provided .with. a pair of bearingplates 18 and 19,: secured toitsupper surfacev at: either: end thereof.

.As seen in- Figures 5 and 6,.the plates 18 and 19 are cut and turned,down through longitudinal slots 20 and JZLcut-through the bottom ofchannel 8 and then .turned '-backunder as at. 22 :and 23, thus forming abearing surface for a pair of downwardly extending lugs 24 and .25affixed tothe rearward portion of the bar-12 and a downwardly extendinglug 26 afiixed to the lower surface of. the bar 12 atthe front endthereof. The lugs 24and 25 are of inverted T-shape and are secured tothe bar by screws 27, Whereasthe lug 26 is notched as at '28 and isprovided with a pair of outwardly turned ears "was best seen in Figure13. The-lug 26 is formed of two pieces .of'stock. and itsupper ends '30are flanged outwardly toform a pair of plates which are secured to theunder side of the bar 12 by fastening elements 31. As best viewedsfromFigures 2, 3, .and 9,- it will be seen that the barrel 4 is. secured .tothereceiverbody 2 by a band 32 and that a band '33 is mounted at therearward end of receiving body 2 to encircle the blastetube $17 when inassembled re ation therewith. 1 Operating means for. moving .theshuttlebar'in a'fgreciprocating' motion withimreceiven body; ZfiSiPrQvided andconsists of a combination hand lever 34 and contact switch mechanismmounted within the housing 11 which is secured to the under side of thereceiver body 2. From Figures 2, 5, 7, and 10, it will be seen that thelever 34 of the operating means is pivoted about a pin 35 carried by thesupport 36 attached at one side of housing 11. The lever 34 is disposedtransversely of the launcher and extends through an elongated opening 37in the other :side of housing 11. Lying within opening 37 and disposedunder lever 34 is an elongated block 38 notched :at one end thereof asat 39. This block does not close opening 37 but leaves space for thelever 34 to swing through when moved by the operator. Near its pivotedend, lever 34 has an extension 40 hinged thereto as at 41 and both partsare held in biased relation by a leaf spring 41a.

Fastened below the lever 34 is an electrical contact leaf f spring 42,so that when the lever is in notch 39, the spring will make contact witha contact member 43 mounted on the floor of housing 11 by a mountingplate 44. Lever 34 is further provided with a disc-like intermediateportion 45, best seen in Figure 7, and when the lever is in assembledrelation within housing 11, the portion 45 normally lies within notch 28on lug 26 of the shuttle bar 3. A cotter pin 46 secures pivot 35 againstaccidental removal, and also to allow quick dismantling of the parts ofthe lever mechanism. Electrical leads 47 and 48, which connect thecontact member 43 with the trigger mechanism 6 and the rocket firingcontact means respectively, are mounted on the member 43. Lead 48 issecured in channel 8 to a jack 49 adapted to receive a contact finger 50connected at one end of a lead 51 secured to the under surface of bar 12and is snaked into a passage in the blast tube 17 and terminates in acontact finger 52.

The rocket container 5, best illustrated in Figure 11, is comprised of asubstantially tubular body 53, closed at its ends by covers 54. Thecontainer is provided with a contact leaf spring 55, normally contactingthe contact ring of a rocket when in the container, and a turned-upportion 56 to provide a spring-like contact member to *contact finger 52when the rocket and container are as sembled in the launcher. Thecontainer tube is lined with suitable insulating and shock-absorbingmaterial 57. Annular beads 58 are provided adjacent to both ends of thecontainer and are for the purpose of positioning the container when inassembly with the receiving body of the launcher. Stops 59 are providedwithin the inner walls of the receiver body 2 at the junction of thebarrel and the receiver and abut with the annular beads 58 at the frontend of the container. A ground contact is provided by the usualthrow-out pin 61 of the rocket R which normally maintains the rocketunarmed until after the same has left the launcher. Spring-loadedejecting means are provided within the receiver body 2 for aiding inejecting the empty rocket container and consists of a plurality ofspring-loaded concave flaps 62 lying in the path of a rocket and itscontainer when loaded into the receiver. These flaps are mounted attheir outer ends to shafts 75 carried by brackets 76 and extendingthrough slots 77 in the side wall of the receiver.

Means for extracting the empty containers are provided and consist of apair of elongated leaf springs 63 (see Figures 8, l0, and 12) attachedtothe blast tube 17. Heads 64 are attached to the free ends of the leafsprings 63 and normally snap over a head 65 provided adjacent each endof the container 5, as best seen in Figure 8. The extractor leaf springs63 are fastened at one end to the blast tube 17 by rivets 66 and areheld in spaced relation to the blast tube by spacing elements 67 and 68.Spacer 68 acts also as a stop to limit the travel of the container.Extractor 63 is normally biased against the outer surface of theblasttube17 by a spring 73. It will be seen alsofrom Figure 8, that the inneredge of the blast .tube is beveled as at .69.. The purpose. of thisbeveled edge is explained as follows: In its assembled 4 relation in thelauncher container 5 fits snugly around both the blast tube and thebarrel to form a continuous tube therewith, hence, the container willreadily slide onto the blast tube when urged into position. A similarbeveled edge 70 is provided on the barrel portion 4 and the effect ofwhich is similar to the aforesaid.

The launcher may be equipped with lugs 71 for mounting on a standardrocket launcher tripod or for use with shoulder straps.

Operation The operation of the launcher is as follows: Assuming that thelauncher is empty, i.e., without a container in place and lever 34 is atits extreme rearward position in opening 37, the container 5, containinga rocket, is opened by taking off covers 54 at each end thereof and thecontainer tube 53 is inserted in the receiver 2 and nested with itsbeads 58 abutting stops 59. The beads 58 are not positionedsymmetrically with respect to the beads 65 on opposite ends of the tube53. Hence the container tube 53 cannot be placed in the receiver body 2in the wrong position, i.e., with the nose of the rocket pointingtowards the. rear of the launcher. The weight of the rocket in thecontainer is sufiicient to overcome the spring members 62 and hold themdown.

The container is now ready to be secured in the launcher. Lever 34 ispushed all the way forward in opening 37 in housing 11 andsimultaneously therewith theshuttle bar assembly 3 is moved forward, theflanges 16 riding on the plates 18 and 19 guided by lugs 24, 25, and 26sliding in slots 20 and 21 and carrying with it the blast tube 17. Thebeveled edges 69 and 70 will slide into snug fit with the container tube53 at each end thereof and a bead 65 will slide under the extractorheads 64 and be held securely therein. See Figure 8.

The jack 49 and the contact finger 50 are automatically engaged bymovement of the shuttle bar forward and also the finger 52 contacts theturned up portion 56 of the leaf spring contact 55 on the container 5thus completing the firing circuit to the contact member 43. The finaloperation consists in moving the lever 34 downwardly in its notch 39 tobring the contact spring 42 against the member 43 to complete thecircuit to the trigger mechanism 6. By virtue of the throw-out pin 61acting as a ground, the circuit is now complete and is ready for thefiring of a rocket.

To unload the launcher, the procedure is merely reversed. The extractorfingers or heads 64 will withdraw the container tube 53 from the blasttube and the ejector members 62 will fly upwards due to the reduction inweight by the launching of the rocket and the container tube will beejected. The electric connections will be broken and the launcher madeready for further loading.

It is apparent from the foregoing that a highly efficient, yet greatlysimplified, rocket launcher has been devised. The launcher possessesmobility and quick assembly or dismantling. By merely pulling out thecotter pin 46 and removing pivot 35 the lever may be withdrawn throughopening 37. The lugs 24 and 25 may be loosened by unscrewing screws 27and removed. The shuttle bar is moved until the turned-out ears 29 onlug 26 register with a notch '72 provided on hearing plates 18 andlocated medially in slot 21. The shuttle bar is then lifted upward andout. The barrel 4 is then disengaged from the receiving body and therocket launcher can be stowed in a relatively small space or carried bya shoulder strap 74, etc. .A screw driver can perform about all theoperations needed to mount and dismantle the launcher. Suitableinsulation (not shown) may be applied at critical points throughout thelauncher to prevent shorting of the circuit due to dampness or wear.

It is to be understood that the formof the invention 5 herein shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in-the sh pe, size and arrangement of parts may be re oo,

without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In -a rocket launcher including an open receiving cradle, a barrelmember fastened at its rearward end to said cradle, a tubular rocketcontainer open at both end thereof and removeably positioned within saidreceiving cradle, a shuttle bar assembly including an elongated channelbar, a blast tube secured at the rearward end of said bar, means forguiding said shuttle bar axially in said cradle comprising a series ofdownwardly extending longitudinally aligned lugs attached to the undersurface of said bar and adapted to slide in longitudinal-ly alignedslots formed in the floor of said cradle, an operating lever carried bythe forward under surface of said receiving cradle, said lever co-actingwith one of said lugs to move said shuttle bar in a reciprocatingmovement within said cradle and secure said tubular container in snugengagement with said barrel and said blast tube to form a continuouslaunching tube therewith, and electrical contact means for firing arocket when in said container including first and second terminals, saidfirst terminal being carried by the under surface of said shuttle barand said second terminal being carried by the upper surface of saidcradle, said first terminal being connected to a contact finger locatedin said blast tube and said second terminal being connected to a contactmember disposed on the floor of said housing on the under surface ofsaid cradle, said contact member being connected in turn to a triggermechanism located on said barrel member of said launcher, said first andsaid second electrical terminals being automatically engaged with eachother upon full forward movement of said operating lever andestablishing electrical contact between said contact member in saidblast tube and said trigger mechanism upon pushing said lever in adownward movement.

2. In a rocket launcher as claimed in claim 1, wherein said receivingcradle is depressed along its floor to form a channel for locating theoperating parts of said launcher, a pair of flat bearing plates fastenedto the fore and aft portions of the floor of said chamber and a pair ofchannel plates having outwardly flanged edges fastened to the undersurface of said shuttle bar adapted to slide upon said bearing plateswhen said shuttle bar is in its operating position within said receivingcradle.

3. In a rocket launcher as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shuttle barincludes an enlongated channel bar having a concave upper surface to fitthe contour of said rocket container when said container is in itsfiring position in said receiving cradle, a pair of spacedlongitudinally aligned removable inverted T-shaped lugs extendingdownwardly from the under surface of the rearward portion of said bar,said T-shaped lugs being slidable in a pair of slots formed in the floorof said receiving cradle, a forwardly disposed notched 'lug on said baraligned with said inverted T-shaped lugs, said notched lug being adaptedto slide in a third slot formed in the floor of said cradle, said lugnotch providing a bearing for a widened portion formed medially of saidoperating lever to reciprocate said bar upon reciprocating movement ofsaid lever.

4. In a luncher as claimed in claim 1 in which the rocket containerincludes a tubular member provided with an insulating liner, a removablecover aflixed to each end thereof for inclosing a rocket therein, a leafspring contact member secured to the inner wall of said containeradapted to normally contact the contact-ring of a rocket when housedwithin said container, said spring being provided with an upturnedextension at its rearward portion to provide a contact between saidspring and a terminal provided within said blast tube leading tomechanism for firing said rocket, a first pair of annular beadsirregularly disposed on the outer periphery of said container to preventmisplacement of said con tainer in said receiving body, said beads beingdisposed to abut stops provided on the inner walls of said receivingcradle and to prevent axial movement of said container when assembled insaid receiving cradle, and a second pair of annular beads located at theends of said container acting as retaining means for said covers.

5. In a rocket launcher including a receiver body, a barrel portionsecured at one end of said body, a shuttle bar assembly including achannel bar, a blast tube secured to the rearward end of said bar, anoperating lever mounted Within a housing attached to the under surfaceof the forward portion of said bar, one end of said lever being pivotedto a support carried by one side of said housing, the medial portion ofsaid lever being disc-like and adapted to slide within a notch providedin an elongated downwardly extending lug attached to the under surfaceof said bar, said lever being disposed to move said bar axially withrespect to said receiver body when moved about its pivot, the other endof said lever normally sliding in an elongated opening in the other sideof said housing, locking means for said bar comprising an elongatednotched flat bar normally disposed below said lever and attached to saidhousing to act as a lock for said lever when it is pushed downward insaid notch and an electrical contact member secured to the floor of saidhousing, said lever contacting said electrical contact member when inlocked position in said notch in said bar to complete a firing circuitbetween a rocket in said container and said trigger mechanism.

6. An operating lever as claimed in claim 5, wherein said levercomprises a handle portion and having an extension pivoted to saidhandle portion and pivotally mounted on a support attached to one sideof said housing, and a leaf spring secured at one of its ends to theupper surface of said handle portion of said lever and having its freeend normally biasing said lever extension in a downward direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,450,929 Ashworth et al Oct. 12, 1948 2,485,715 Eastman Oct. 25, 19492,717,534 Atherton Sept. 13, 1955 2,780,881 Crittendon et al. Feb. 12,1957 2,873,546 Allyn Feb. 17, 1959

